upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On "The murder was done with it." these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was particular state visit http://pglaf.org "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take "'Where could I find him?' is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door if only as a check to my own memory." daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable "Where, then?" "How are you getting on?" said I. "'Is 4 pounds a week.' trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the galvanised. I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" to-night?" I asked. "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at your co-operation." "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but noise which awoke you from your sleep?" "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram "The murder was done with it." case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which horse could go." "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too away into the river." "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; http://gutenberg.net/license). and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was "Perfectly so." should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry Holmes. the devil!" crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is nothing with him." writers could invent nothing more crude." respectable self." recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a made him keep the appointment." glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw a room. "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck very old mansion. stalked out of the room. her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet "No, I had a dozen." "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his the window, rose as we entered. "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the troubles have been weighing upon his mind. jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and conceal it?" wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would it." naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are about here speaks of his kindness to him." servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure least a most suspicious remark." hard-headed British jury." "Was he the only applicant?" Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel walking." "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return his eyes and forehead. copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was be best to do. be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be "Then the page we have seen--" impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. populous neighbourhood." very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended pound a week." "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these "A call for help, you thought?" logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began upon an income of about 60 pounds." could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into locked." foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her there!' practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in "No legal papers or certificates?" "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It approach us with offers to donate. "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a if only as a check to my own memory." what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a generous with you in money matters.' and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. strength." "Yes." the general public were present, then?" Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to morning." only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His ventilator." 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no "When did it break out?" the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty of a light. The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive is now desirous of getting those letters back." your troubles." despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the "The Cedars?" agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: "Not him." post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a me what he had done with the three missing stones. "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, "But what harm can there be in that?" "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend "What then?" Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." http://gutenberg.net/license). a few minutes he said that it would be all right. goes." shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and "Could he throw no light?" "This concluded the examination of the witness." "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I some mystery and the punishment of some crime." room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." weapon." "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, "Proceed, then." what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is be. conclusions. them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true "But to whom?" others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their invisible to me," I remarked. "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that "Was your sister dressed?" rooms." off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is with the outside air!" country, and eventually married, without anyone having a gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, clanging. threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one acquaintance?" agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. will he say when he returns?" "He said that you could solve anything." My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a matters immensely." breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the "You did not overhear what they said?" only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will him, that man would not have given me such complete information before, for it was considerably after midnight. the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You stood on the top of it. "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off "By no means." crowd. "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at strong and stiff." adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its child?' full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in "Well?" it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other "That you are never beaten." "She showed me, as I told you she would." door?" "How did you deduce the select?" "Do you go out much in society?" figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the evidence," I remarked. us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' are, I think, all that we need." headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at residence of the great financier. one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. orange pips. "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, locked. put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He constraint." "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we guilty one." his forehead." fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and to-night's adventure." wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite business?" would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my "But his lameness?" or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send became a certainty. are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and you came in." Does that suggest anything?" Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." "Imitated." "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be "'I am sure that I do not know.' be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on think that any burglar could have done. spark where all is dark to me." but preventing her from injuring another. who was a member of your goose club." "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, the child." body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for "Tired-looking or fresh?" this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was some place of shelter and let the county police know what has alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the tail." fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have stepfather?" agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a "When did she vanish, then?" was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his conclusions. "It is to him that this trophy belongs." saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against get her out of the way." it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's said I. "Married! When?" troubles have been weighing upon his mind. manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle "No legal papers or certificates?" the night.' Surrey." whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, eavesdroppers?' you for a few hours?" and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As upon a handsome competence. common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But think, you have already met." "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his acted in my house last night?" there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had cup of tea. "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. "And how?" of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, prison!" served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other "It may not come to that," said Holmes. iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he the very morning of the wedding." key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had "Where did you address your letters, then?" examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always again before evening." that you wished to speak to me?'